Women Demand An End To Law Allowing Rapists To Marry Victims

Women in the Middle East are fighting back against shocking 'marry your rapist' laws. In Lebanon and Jordan, a law currently exists allowing accused and convicted rapists to avoid criminal prosecution if they marry their victims.

But now women are demanding an end to this practice.

In Beirut shocking billboards appeared showing a woman in a bloodied and torn bridal gown captioned in Arabic, “A white dress doesn’t cover up rape” the Independent reported. Another women’s rights group, Abaad, strung wedding gowns along the city’s famous seaside promenade.

Their message is loud and clear.

TURKEY: Thousands Take to The Streets to Protest Child Marriage Bill November 200:11

A controversial bill supported by members of the ruling Turkish Freedom and Justice Party (AKP), that could see child sexual abuse perpetrators go free, prompted thousands of protesters to take to the streets in Istanbul on Sunday, November 20. Locals gathered at Kartal Meyden, a landmark in the city, rallying against the motion with chants and signs. The proposed legislation would potentially quash child sexual abuse convictions for men if they marry their victims. Critics believe the law, that would throw out cases of sexual abuse and unlawful child marriages from before November 16, could lead to looser policing of sexual abuse and legitimatize rape. Video footage shown here was recorded in Kartal Meyden on the Asian side of Istanbul, just south of Kadikoy. Credit: Instagram/emrethmc via Storyful

November 21st 2016

9 months ago

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The reality

Basma Mohamad Latifa was 19 when she was raped by a middle aged man in Lebanon. She had arrived there from Syria with her brother, Ahmad, and the two were living as refugees.

But instead of going to the police, a deal was done and she was forced to marry the rapist.

“My sister didn’t like the deal, but I assured to her, it will be temporary,” her brother said. She stayed in the marriage for three years, a requirement if the accused rapist wants to avoid prosecution.

“He was beating her continuously,” Ahmed said. “I used to see the scars on her face, when she used to visit me."

Finally, she divorced the man. Then, one night while having dinner with her brother, he came into the house and shot her nine times. She died at the age of 22.

Women are fighting back against outdated laws. Photo: Supplied

Change in the air

Sadly, Latifa is not the only woman who has been forced to marry her rapist as these outdated laws provide legal loopholes for the accused.

Because a family’s honour is associated closely to a woman’s chastity, the laws were put in place to shield the victim’s family from “the scandal” of rape, reports the Independent. Marriage being the saving grace.

The governments of Lebanon and Jordan are expected to vote soon on whether to veto these laws, after government committees in both countries recommended revoking exemptions for both accused and convicted rapists.

Wafa Bani Mustafa, a member of Parliament in Jordan and a leading proponent of repeal, said only a change in the law could bring about change in what society views as normal or not.

Without repeal, she argued, “the state of impunity will continue, and the interest of the family will be put ahead of the victim’s right to justice.”

Maya Ammar, a spokeswoman for Kafa, a Lebanese group that works with domestic violence survivors, said it would be “a moral victory" if the Lebanese law is repealed.

More survivors will have to press charges instead of doing deals in private, she said.

“These are cases that are not discussed in public,” she said. “They all happen in silence.”